Clannad - Spoilers & Speculation (for experienced Clannad gamers only)

[velocity7]

The OP is vague as it is, so it really isn't a spoiler, to be honest.

Spoiler:

Hell, for all you know, it could have been Tomoyo's younger half-sister as well. And that's Tomoyo After material.

[Zilch]

Originally Posted by BOZZY

I am surprised no mentioned this... but here I go...

Spoiler:

Doesn't the OP give away a huge spoiler as to who Tomoyo will end up with? I mean watching the series, it seems obvious he will hook up with Nagisa, but isn't the little girl that is running in the fields in the OP, Nagisa and Tomoya's daughter Ushio?

However, Nagisa is the lead character, of course Tomoyo will end up with her.
Also, working with Nagisa's route will make it easier to show Sunohara's and Fuko's stories.

[Seair]

Spoiler for about OP:

there is no doubt (100% sure) that Tomoya will be with Nagisa; otherwise, there will be no AS, no Ushio, no true ending.

(dont tell me that the girl running in the field in OP is TOMO and that shows Tomoya will end up with Tomoyo and the AS will become Tomoyo After...well, i admit there is a possiblity...)

however, it seems that the anime structure of Clannad will be more like Kanon, which means the KyoAni will go through each route(most routes) of main characters one by one, and then eventually go with Nagisa. the question is how they can solve the "loving story" conflict problem between other routes and Nagisa's main route. in game, routes are parallel, and it makes sense that Tomoya with be with a girl in one route, and be with another girl in another route. they are parallel universes and have no conflict. but now in anime, it seems all the events will happen in one timeline. now let's say in anime before the second festival (we agree that is when Nagisa will play her opera instead of the "finishing" first festival in ep.6) Tomoya should finish up with Fuko, Tomoyo, Kyou, Kotomi and maybe Yukine. then i think what is gonna happen is Tomoya will go into everyone's route but eventually end up as friends because of Nagisa as what Kanon did;

help Fuko until the one and only "touching" wedding with 1000 starfishes...(i am gonna cry hard for that ep...)
end with the wedding, Fuko will be staying in the bed and waiting for the AS to do something with Ushio.

help Tomoyo become the president and get to know about the Sakagami's accident.
end with the "tears with sakura"

now the hard part is how to deal with Kyou and Kotomi...

i think Tomoya will get to know the "feeling" that Kyou has with him. but he will "have" to say sorry to her because "Nagisa is one and only"...and those two are mean to be the best firends.

for Kotomi, i really hope that the anime will cover most of her story...it is so touching...
but still, i think those two will end up with the "brother-sister" relationship. the same reason as above...and the same goes with Yukine...

all i hope right now is, KyoAni please do good job on 3on3, on Nagisa's play, on Kotomi's suitcase
, on wedding, on "sakura", and on AS. (if they cut AS, this anime isnt mean to be called Clannad.)

[dgreater1]

Spoiler for Possible spoiler about the END story XD:

As we can see, the other world exist, that other world is a like library of story of the town, the sphere of lights acts like a book that contains the story of each individual living in that town. As far as I remember, Tomoya is also a light, and Ushio as well (she decided to become the representative of the other world though). Ushio from CLANNAD After Story (also known as Nagisa's After Story) belongs there and her story have different endings, not just 1 or two but could be anything. Anyway, each time Tomoya lives out his life, he goes back to this library (the other world) to meet Ushio (the representative of the other world), he would constantly go back to the human world as well, back to that faithful day where everything started (or we could say, everything from his childhood to high school life would be the same except after meeting the girls, Higurashi everyone?). So in short, he could end up with Tomoyo After, Fuuko After, Kotomi After, Yukine After, Ryou After, Kyou After, Lonely Life After, Who knows After... and even Sunohara Yohei After. The sphere of light he acquires from each individual means the happiness he shares with them. The rain of light at the final sequence of the game is to show that everyone is happy that Ushio was born without any problem (whole family intact). Ushio is the representative of the lights in the other, and every lights was happy because their representative is subconsciously happy. So what I'm trying to say is, they're just constantly reliving (rereading) their life over and over again without them realizing it. It's a story with an endless loop that contains endless possibilities.

What the hell am I talking about?

Spoiler for Oh... about the OP XD...:

Anyway, the girl running in the field could be Tomoya's daughter to anyone of them... Tomoya's adopted daughter to Sunohara? *went to the toilet to puke*

[velocity7]

Has anyone noticed? There's a light now in episode 7's title screen:


Other than that...

Spoiler:

I'm concerned for the number of episodes now that are left. Even if each girl took three episodes each in the time left, the room left for After Story would be damn tight. That said, I'm starting to have bets this series is going 3-cour despite only 8 DVDs having been announced...

[Kristen]

Originally Posted by velocity7

Has anyone noticed? There's a light now in episode 7's title screen:


Other than that...

Spoiler:

I'm concerned for the number of episodes now that are left. Even if each girl took three episodes each in the time left, the room left for After Story would be damn tight. That said, I'm starting to have bets this series is going 3-cour despite only 8 DVDs having been announced...

I've been thinking of that. I was discussing it with my friend, and he had an out there idea.
Maybe it's going to be a 2 part series, with part 1 running until April, Haruhi until July, and then part 2 until December. After that would be a 1 cours FMP, and then they are back to April for a comedy.
His idea was that each girl is going to get 5 episodes, so as to cover 4 arcs in the first 24 episodes. These would be Fuuko, Tomoyo, Kotomi, and Kyou. The second part would have a short Yukine of maybe 4 or 5 episodes, and then 8-9 episodes of Nagisa. This would then be followed by 13 episodes of afterstory. Same OP and ED, and no mention that it is a second season.

At least, that's what I would do to adapt it, rather than trying to squeeze too much into too little time. It'd also keep sales and anticipation high.

So, 4 cours Clannad? Please?

[Kinny Riddle]

It looks like Kyo-Ani patched up a major loop-hole KEY made concerning Fuuko in the original game:

Spoiler for Fuuko:

Kouko-san clearly said Fuuko "stopped breathing" in the game. When a person stops breathing, death usually follows within hours, if not minutes.

So I find it hard to believe that Fuuko lived in her Good End (both versions).

Kyo-Ani patched that up with a more plausible "Fuuko might never wake up anymore", leaving room for her to come back.

Is it even possible to keep a person alive even without him breathing? Like supplying the oxygen via somewhere else besides the mouth and nose I wonder, for I've not heard of it.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by velocity7

Spoiler:

I'm concerned for the number of episodes now that are left. Even if each girl took three episodes each in the time left, the room left for After Story would be damn tight. That said, I'm starting to have bets this series is going 3-cour despite only 8 DVDs having been announced...

Spoiler:

I'd take you on that bet anyday. The TV run will definitely be 24 episodes, and it'll definitely cover the story to the end based on the hints they've already dropped. The most I would think you could hope for would be an OVA to cover some extra part they couldn't fit in (kinda sorta like AIR TV), but I wouldn't count on it.

[SnakeLegend]

Originally Posted by Seair

Spoiler for about OP:

there is no doubt (100% sure) that Tomoya will be with Nagisa; otherwise, there will be no AS, no Ushio, no true ending.

(dont tell me that the girl running in the field in OP is TOMO and that shows Tomoya will end up with Tomoyo and the AS will become Tomoyo After...well, i admit there is a possiblity...)

however, it seems that the anime structure of Clannad will be more like Kanon, which means the KyoAni will go through each route(most routes) of main characters one by one, and then eventually go with Nagisa. the question is how they can solve the "loving story" conflict problem between other routes and Nagisa's main route. in game, routes are parallel, and it makes sense that Tomoya with be with a girl in one route, and be with another girl in another route. they are parallel universes and have no conflict. but now in anime, it seems all the events will happen in one timeline. now let's say in anime before the second festival (we agree that is when Nagisa will play her opera instead of the "finishing" first festival in ep.6) Tom Whoya should finish up with Fuko, Tomoyo, Kyou, Kotomi and maybe Yukine. then i think what is gonna happen is Tomoya will go into everyone's route but eventually end up as friends because of Nagisa as what Kanon did;

help Fuko until the one and only "touching" wedding with 1000 starfishes...(i am gonna cry hard for that ep...)
end with the wedding, Fuko will be staying in the bed and waiting for the AS to do something with Ushio.

help Tomoyo become the president and get to know about the Sakagami's accident.
end with the "tears with sakura"

now the hard part is how to deal with Kyou and Kotomi...

i think Tomoya will get to know the "feeling" that Kyou has with him. but he will "have" to say sorry to her because "Nagisa is one and only"...and those two are mean to be the best firends.

for Kotomi, i really hope that the anime will cover most of her story...it is so touching...
but still, i think those two will end up with the "brother-sister" relationship. the same reason as above...and the same goes with Yukine...

all i hope right now is, KyoAni please do good job on 3on3, on Nagisa's play, on Kotomi's suitcase
, on wedding, on "sakura", and on AS. (if they cut AS, this anime isnt mean to be called Clannad.)

Spoiler:

What is that AS person? Btw, I was pretty new to hear about the insider part of CLANNAD's story.

[minhtam1638]

Oh, my God, after learning a Tomoyo After story exists, I am even more confused for this story than ever.

But apart from that, I have a question: what is the significance of these lights? I mean, I heard that when you play the game, a completed route = one light. In the anime, Nagisa has like... what... seven?

[cshard]

I made a quick observation in the current episode thread (although I didn't elaborate on it there)... Currently the story holds at:

Spoiler for Guesswork on how the series will progress. Potential Spoilers:

Ep 1-2 Tomoya's history + Nagisa's Route + character intro
Ep 3-4 Nagisa's route + character moments + Theater Club
Ep 5-9 Fuuko's route + Nagisa x Tomoya development + partial Yuusuke + Kouko resolution

Now if we continue this way, I suspect that we'll get at least 3-4 episodes per heroine, as well as intertwine the side stories for people like Sunohara, Misae, Kappei, Ryou, etc, etc while the main ones are running. For example, we already have Kouko and Yuusuke's stories running side by side with Fuuko, and Misae's story seems to have been prepped up already. Yukine might be a bit iffy but she's already introduced. And it's likely that Sanae and Akio's stories will be told via Nagisa. Also, the stories for Kotomi, Kyou, and Tomoyo have already been readied during Nagisa's initial arc.

Methinks that by the time the After Story rolls around, Nagisa's School Life story will also be completed by then, leaving about 4-5 episodes for the After Story arc. I don't think they'll be showing us too much of a bad end in this adaptation if that's the case.

The bigger issue churning through my mind is about how Kyou and Tomoyo will get their (reasonably) good endings.

Spoiler for Thoughts on how Kyou and Tomoyo will be handled.:

I haven't played Tomoyo's arc yet (nor Fuuko actually) in the game, but from what I know, they could fit her story into Nagisa's arc but they'd likely have to cut lots of the romance out, which would be a shame. However, Tomoyo has a moderate chance of a happy enough ending without it being romantic, as long as Tomoya simply helps her out for her elections. With some potential for a hug (or kiss) in gratitude.

Kyou's good end looks way too much like Naiyuki's chances in Kanon 2002/2006 right now. No matter what way I look, I sense that she's going to have her heart broken. I do suspect that they may replace Ryou with Nagisa and have Ryou pursue Kappei exclusively. (Although if Ryou does get involved the way the game made her... that's really going to be problematic.

Short of a "Groundhog Day" happening, Nagisa's not likely to be ditched. (and Akio would slaughter Tomoya if he did. )

[Leo_Otaku]

Spoiler for Tomoyo:

I think for Tomoyo they will make her obviously like a friend he can't be with. He will help her attain her goal but just as a friend

Spoiler for Kyou/Ryou:

I as thinking they would do the route but she would still end up withthe short end of the stick. And he would proabably say he likes Nagisa. Maybe she will even cut her hair too at the end. For Ryou I think they can squeeze it in there but them maybe she will see Kappei and forget about Tomoya.

Spoiler for Nagisa:

Will they pull a groundhog day for her play and for the combo? Or maybe they will just put a random festival in there?

[velocity7]

Spoiler:

If KyoAni has any intention of doing a Tomoyo After anime (covering the entire game itself, including the ending), they will likely have to do a groundhog day. Of course, if they go that far, then might as well do the same for Ryou/Kyou.

Tomoyo After's storyline requires too much from Tomoya for him to be with Nagisa at the same time, so I can't even see it being incorporated into After Story when we finally get there.

And speaking of groundhog days...

Spoiler for game:

Spoiler for you are warned!:

A groundhog day must happen when Ushio dies. That was a requirement for the true ending.

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Spoiler:

I'd take you on that bet anyday. The TV run will definitely be 24 episodes, and it'll definitely cover the story to the end based on the hints they've already dropped. The most I would think you could hope for would be an OVA to cover some extra part they couldn't fit in (kinda sorta like AIR TV), but I wouldn't count on it.

Spoiler:

Kanon 2006 already had to fit in too much with five girls, plus Sayuri's sidestory for 24 episodes. Now we're asking five girls, plus probably Yukine and Misae's sidestories, as well as an After Story that's just as long as a girl's route, making it a total of 8 routes to cover. You do the math.

[Kinny Riddle]

Below is an interesting chart that has all the character ending that you can get.

The red bar indicates that you'll end up with the girl in the ending, the farther away from the middle, the more the story feels like a moe bishoujo game.

The blue bar indicates you won't end up with the girl (or guy in Kappei and Koumura's case). The further away from the middle, the less the story feels like a bishoujo game.

(Sunohara's position is not an error, he is placed on that spot for a very good reason. )

Spoiler for Character Ending "Chart":

Spoiler for Some analysis:

Fuuko is right at the middle, because you can end up with her (true end), or you can befriend her while having Nagisa as your girl (normal end).

Nagisa, Kotomi and Yukine are more towards the middle than Tomoyo and the twins, since their stories do make mention of the light orbs and the "Illusionary World", which is the central theme of the whole story.

[DeotoxSlayer]

wow that's very interesting Kinny. It also seems like the ney route they're gonna do is Kotomi's route because the 10th episode is called "The Girl Genius's Challenge", and the only Genius I can think of in Clannad is Kotomi...though who knows it could be completly unrelated...titles in Clannad can be misleading.

[cshard]

I'm pretty sure Kotomi's will be next (maybe with some Misae added). I suspect Tomoyo's route will come after that, along with Sunohara's sister, and followed by Kyou's route, before we finally culminate with Nagisa's route.

Spoiler for Light Speculation:

If they plan to give Kyou the short end of the stick, they'll have to keep her for last seeing as her events will push Tomoya into Nagisa's path completely. And like I speculated, Tomoyo's route can be run without too much of the romance (maybe they'll make it a bit like Mai's route), so it's not a good idea imo if her story is second last.

@Kinny: Hmm, something tells me I shouldn't try to think too hard on why Sunohara is in the "red zone".
~thinks happy thoughts of Tomoyo and Kyou~

@velocity: I know about that little detail, but think of it this way - if it happens, we really will need more than 24/26 episodes, since we'll be replaying certain events twice over. So I suspect we might either get a truncated version, or we'll never see it in the anime.

[minhtam1638]

Originally Posted by Kinny Riddle

(Sunohara's position is not an error, he is placed on that spot for a very good reason. )

Did I hear that correctly? I want proof!

[Kinny Riddle]

Originally Posted by minhtam2448

Did I hear that correctly? I want proof!

Proof? Play the game yourself.

Spoiler for Concerning Sunohara's position. You've been warned:

There's a Sunohara ending with the apt name "Sunohara Lover End".

Simply meet all the girls, and then dump them at the last crucial "flag", and you'll be able to get this ending.

I'll not spoil your fun discovering this ending yourself. Easily the most shocking ending in Clannad.

[minhtam1638]

Originally Posted by Kinny Riddle

Proof? Play the game yourself.

Spoiler for Concerning Sunohara's position. You've been warned:

There's a Sunohara ending with the apt name "Sunohara Lover End".

Simply meet all the girls, and then dump them at the last crucial "flag", and you'll be able to get this ending.

I'll not spoil your fun discovering this ending yourself. Easily the most shocking ending in Clannad.

But I can't stand yaoi... *gulp*

[Kinny Riddle]

Originally Posted by minhtam2448

But I can't stand yaoi... *gulp*

If you're worried about "insertion", rest assured there's almost none (though there is mention of exploiting Sunohara's "spot" using an electric socket), Clannad's made for All Ages in the first place anyway. Watch with an open mind and you'll find it's very fun to watch.